Death Has Been Defeated
Death is the most difficult thing in life. We have all suffered loss at the hand of death.
by Joey Carroll I watched my mom walk through it just two years ago.
My wife watched her dad walk through it 17 years ago.
But many others have endured greater loss.
Some have lost a husband or wife, and others have lost a child or grandchild.
Some say death is natural, and in the sense that everyone dies, that is true.
But it is certainly out of place when you consider that we were created in the image of the God of life, Who cannot die.
There are many grief counselors and others who seek to comfort those who have experienced the loss of family or friend, and all their efforts are to be commended.
However, God and His Word are the only sure comfort, and even encouragement, to our souls when we walk through the valley.
It really seems unreal that the Son of God condescended from glory and was born a man.
But Scripture bears the testimony of so many who were eyewitnesses.
And not only were they eyewitnesses of His life and death, but they were also eyewitnesses of His resurrection.
It would have been truly remarkable to be at the tomb of Lazarus on that great day (John 11).
I would imagine that walking out of a tomb four days after you passed away would have changed your perspective about death forever.
What would be to fear the second time around?
And for the disciples and all the other followers of Jesus, I would imagine that talking and walking and eating with Jesus after He was raised from the dead would certainly change your perspective on death too.
To them, death became little more than a brief inconvenience or perhaps a short respite from the everyday rigors of life.
However they felt, it could certainly be said, “O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55, NASB).
I have heard it said that Christians should never cry at funerals.
I greatly disagree.
I have found that the greater the love, the greater the sadness.
But in spite of the deep sadness believers experience, the light within them shines ever so brightly in the hope of Jesus Christ.
Sin and death had a long-standing, undefeated reign until Jesus was born.
Together, the two wreaked havoc on humanity.
But after His perfect life, His substitutionary death, and His bodily resurrection, our two great foes were stripped of their power and fell headlong on the battlefield that day.
Yes, we still walk in the experience of them now as we walk through the darkness of the valley, but it is almost morning.
Soon, very soon, He will come again, and we will sing with our hearts filled with joy.
So since these things are promised to us by our loving Father, what sort of lives should we live now?
He tells us in His Word, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58, NASB).
